Sana Biotech valued at over $6 bln in market debut

Sana Biotechnology

04/02/2021 18:19

Feb 4 (Reuters) - Shares of gene-regulation startup Sana
Biotechnology Inc  SANA.O  surged 40% in their U.S. stock market
debut on Thursday, giving the Seattle-based company a market
capitalization of $6.38 billion. 
    It offered 23.5 million shares in its initial public
offering (IPO) on Wednesday, raising about $587.5 million in
what was the largest-ever IPO for a preclinical biotech company.
    The company's shares opened at $35, well above the IPO price
of $25 per share. 
    Sana, founded in 2018, is led by several co-founders of
another Seattle-based biopharmaceutical company, Juno
Therapeutics, which is a unit of Bristol-Myers Squibb Co
 BMY.N .
    The biotech firm has raised a total of around $865 million
in funding so far from investors including venture capital firm
Arch Venture Partners and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board,
according to data from PitchBook. 
    Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan and BofA
Securities were the lead underwriters for the offering. 

 (Reporting by Sohini Podder in Bengaluru; Editing by Aditya
Soni)
 ((sohini.podder@thomsonreuters.com;))